I attended the ISTE 2010 Conference in Denver, CO last week.  Wow!  It was an amazing gathering of thousands of educators enthusiastic about and actively using technology in the classroom.  At the Flip Video in the Classroom session I learned more about using Flip cameras, Windows Movie Maker, and Audacity.

The session presenters were classroom teachers who use Flip cameras, Windows Movie Maker, and Audacity with their students.  Below is a link to the session handouts and information.   

http://center.uoregon.edu/ISTE/2010/program/search_results_details.php?sessionid=54689939

I hope some of the information is useful to you.

 

While working with students, I’ve noticed that it can be difficult to make an entertaining product that still informs the audience. I’ve been a part of plenty of projects where students had an informational project all planned out, but something becomes lost in the process and students are left with films that don’t have any message.

            I’ve found that one way to get students to create more effective projects is to approach the project like a PSA, where students are always considering the subject, purpose, and audience, and asking themselves the question, “Is it effective?” With a PSA, because of its length, filmmakers can only afford to include content that directly contributes to their message, and a video project should operate the same way.

During all phases of filmmaking, from storyboarding to editing, you should have students ensure that everything they add to their film is contributing to their intended message. That way, students are the ones making sure they don’t get off track, and this is an easy way to decide whether or not something will appear in their film. When they reach the editing phase, it’s a simple matter of allowing them to keep the information that’s on track, and getting rid of everything else.

One other thing for students to consider is what an audience will learn from their video. Creating a movie about the water cycle that simply shows pictures of the clouds doesn’t teach anything. Making sure students actually explain a concept or give factual information will ensure that they’ve learned something in the filmmaking process, aside from just finding images on Google.

            Overall, it can be difficult to guarantee that students are learning while they’re creating a video, but by using these techniques, you can make sure that they will make effective projects that have an educational benefit.

  If you have any additional suggestions on how to get your students to create an effective project, please mention them below. 

Here’s the long awaited second installment of the editing software breakdown. Last week it was Windows, this week I’ll be tackling programs available for the Mac.

 

iMovie.

There was a time when iMovie was a simple but effective application for all basic video editing on your Mac. This is no longer the case. With the release of iMovie 7, Apple seriously stripped down the program in order to limit what you can actually do with your video clips. Unless you’ve spent plenty of time with iMovie 7 and are already comfortable with it, I recommend you go hereand download the older version, iMovie 6, for free.

 

Cost: Free

 

Pros:

It’s free.

Simple to use, as long as you have iMovie 6

No need to download anything, as long as you’re happy with the new version.

Cons:

       iMovie 7 makes it difficult to complete easy tasks.

 

 

Final Cut Express

I’m admittedly biased here because we use Final Cut to edit on a daily basis here at Spy Hop, but there’s a reason why; it’s a superior program where your only limit is your creativity. There are plenty of editing options, and you can edit pretty much any type of movie with ease. There’s a bit of a learning curve, but once you’ve picked it up, you’ll be frustrated with every other editing program out there.

 

Cost: Around $200

 

Pros:

    As far as I’m concerned, it’s the best editing program out there.

    As many video and audio tracks as you want. Edit multi-camera shoot easily.

Cons:

     Similar to Premiere, the cost of the program can add up when you’ve got it      on several computers. Explore the multi user license option.

As a continuation from last week’s blog about video cameras, I wanted to post some thoughts about different editing software available for your computer. This week, I’ll be mentioning a few programs I recommend for your PC. Next week I’ll address options for Mac users.

 

Windows Movie Maker.

After using Windows Movie Maker fairly extensively this year, I’ve actually been somewhat impressed. For a free program that comes installed on your computer, it’s not too bad. For simple editing, Windows Movie Maker is great, but if you’re looking to do some more complicated tricks, expect to get frustrated.

Cost: Free

 

Pros: 

-          Cost.

-          Easy to use.

-          Come preinstalled on your PC.

 

Cons:

-          Not many editing options.

-         Only one additional audio track is allowed, so if you want to add sound effects  and music simultaneously, you’re out of luck.

 

 

Adobe Premiere Elements

Although it’s essentially a bare bones version of Premiere Pro, Adobe Premiere Elements still gives you plenty of options to edit projects in more advanced ways. With the addition of multiple video and audio tracks, you’ll be able to lay as many clips on top of each other as you’d like. The bottom line is if you’re looking to create some more complicated projects (especially events that were shot with more than one camera) Premiere is the way to go.

Cost: $140

 

Pros:

-          Edit complex projects much easier than Windows Movie Maker.

-          More transition and title options.

 

Cons:

-          Although $140 isn’t a lot of money for software, you’ll still need to buy copies for multiple computers.

-          Premiere will take a bit more power to run. You’ll need to make sure your computer can handle the system requirements.

-          Premiere is easy to use once you’ve played with it for a bit, but it’s not as intuitive as Windows Movie Maker.

Based on my recent classroom visits, it seems like there are many of you wanting to get a refresher on editing with Windows Movie Maker. As always, you can feel free to email me for some technical help, but I thought I'd post some resources here to help with the post production process.

Windows Movie Maker Tutorials: This is a great resource for learning the basics Windows Movie Maker. The tutorial is broken up into individual sections, so you can jump right to the part you need help with.

Movie Maker Tips and Tricks : A list of hints to help make editing with Windows Movie Maker a bit easier 

 Adding Effects in Movie Maker:  If you've finished the basic editing and want to add some effects to enhance the look of your film, check out this link to see what's possible.